When you feel that Atmega microcontroller runs out of juices and you don’t want to change to different type of microcontrollers like ARM then you can go with Xmega. Problem is that Xmega chip packages are less friendly for hobbyists but still usable. Having this in mind Brendan assembled Xmega breakout board which simply fits in to breadboard for fast prototyping.

The board includes ATXMega32a4u microcontroller alongwith power supply, USB port and I/Os aligned to fit nicely in to the breadboard. His intent is to make it more friendly for newbies by adding Arduino support for it. As a reference he’s using the XmegaDuino project. There is still lots of work to be done but you can start building one for yourself as you know it takes some time. [via dangerous prototypes]